Disappearing Peanut Butter Oreo Brownies

At the supermarket the other day I found something amazing: Peanut Butter Oreos!  That's right, Oreo cookies with peanut butter filling.  I knew I had to buy a package and I immediately had plans to make something with them.  I decided to take my brownie recipe and toss a few of the Oreos into the mix.  The result was a gooey, yummy brownie that had people helping themselves to second, third, and fourth portions.

Beet Risotto with Feta and Sage

I loooove beets.  From the outside a beet looks like your average root vegetable.  Then you slice into it and see the deep purple-red color that's marbled with an almost wood grain pattern to it, and you can tell it's something special.  Raw, a beet has a slightly bitter aftertaste that I think is a little like the dirt it was plucked from.  Roast it and it becomes sweet, but not cloyingly so.  The one drawback of working with beets is that it will dye everything it touches, so be careful to wear gloves and choose carefully what surfaces you allow it to touch.  This "negative" trait is also a positive one when you want to make a food dyed red (like red velvet cake...ew) without using artificial colorings.  I bought some beets from a farm stand they have in my neighborhood and knew immediately what I was going to make with them: beet risotto.

Egg and Spinach Sandwich

This is a super easy meal that is healthy, flavorful, and quick to prepare.  It's a great lunch/brunch item that doesn't require a lot of time or fancy ingredients.  You can also substitute the spinach for any vegetables you happen to have in your kitchen.  I made this as a lazy, rainy day lunch, but it can be enjoyed anytime.

Pastry Cream

Pastry cream is one of those things that is simple to make, but also very easy to screw up.  The most common issues are not cooking it enough, or cooking it too much so the eggs scramble.  Pastry cream is very versatile and you can flavor it however you want.  This is a recipe for basic vanilla pastry cream that I made with vanilla beans I bought from a farmer while walking along the rice paddies in Ubud, Bali (sounds romantic doesn't it?).

Pasta Dish for One

Oh hey there.  Long time no see.  My most recent sabbatical from this blog can be explained..really! I swear!  I just returned from a trip to the distant land of Indonesia, and yes it was amazing.  I'll be making some food inspired by my trip at a later date, but for now I thought I'd post my dinner from tonight.  Sometimes you're by yourself and want to eat a delicious meal, so this is a solo dish that may sound strange but is very yummy.  Treat yourself!

White chocolate, Black sesame, and cardamom cookies

I had an extra bag of white chocolate chips lying around and decided to make some cookies.  I didn't want to make the default "white chocolate macadamia nut cookies" so I started looking around for something more interesting.  A bag of black sesame seeds caught my eye and I decided to give it a try.  The result is a cookie that is crunchy from the seeds, gooey from the chocolate, and has a pinch of spice from the cardamom.  I made these in mini cupcake pans so they came out like little 2-bite cookies, but you can scoop them and bake like a normal cookie as well.

Pumpkin Spice Latte Syrup

To me, one of the quintessential treats for the fall season is the ever-popular pumpkin spice latte.  Call it cliche', but nothing welcomes fall quite like the first sip of this spicy drink.  It's seasonal and makes me want to jump in the air and click my heels whilst proclaiming "it's fall!"  Yes, I just used the word "whilst".  The problem with this delicious drink is a) it's too freaking expensive b) they add all these artificially flavored syrups and c) it tends to be too sweet for my liking.  I decided to take matters into my own hands and the result is delicious.